The present invention relates to the field of pulse power machines for generating strong electromagnetic pulses, and more particularly to an apparatus for adjusting the size of the anode-cathode gap in a pulse power machine.
In the art of pulse power machines, the anode-cathode gap must be adjusted at times. In the pulse power machine, the anode-cathode gap is located in a vacuum chamber, and the vacuum chamber must be disassembled in order to effect a change in the anode-cathode gap. Disassembly of the vacuum chamber is undesirable because it is time consuming and labor intensive. Of course after the anode-cathode gap has been adjusted, the vacuum chamber must be reassembled and reevacuated. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide an adjustable anode-cathode gap for a pulse power machine that does not require disassembly of the vacuum chamber.
The environment of the vacuum chamber of a pulse power machine is permeated with pulsed electromagnetic energy during use of the machine. Consequently, any device that would be used for adjusting the anode-cathode gap should be protected from the electromagnetic energy of the pulse power machine.